


What You Really Wanted

by SioDymph



Category: Batman - All Media Types, Gotham (TV)
Genre: Amnesia, Friendship, Gen, No Romance, One Shot, ace chemicals au
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-03-13
Updated: 2019-03-13
Packaged: 2019-11-16 11:30:06
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,708
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18093461
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SioDymph/pseuds/SioDymph
Summary: In the end Jeremiah almost won, and he got what he actually wanted.But it cost everything.





	What You Really Wanted

**Author's Note:**

> Alright, here’s my own take on the whole Jeremiah-and-Bruce-both-fell-in-AU! Just a quick one-shot I wanted to write out and share. Hope you enjoy!

He woke up to daylight streaming into his eyes.

On instinct, he tried to turn away. It felt too bright. Making the vision under his eyelids crimson. And it burned his face. As he shifted he came back to himself. His eyes slowly opened to take in the world around him.

He was in a small, simple room. No decorations. All the walls and floor were covered in faded white tiles and the ceiling had several cracks and water stains. The only furniture was the bed with starchy white sheets he was resting on and another identical one sitting closer to the window, he might have looked closer but the sunlight felt like it was blinding him so he quickly turned away again. At the moment the sun was setting, or maybe it was rising, either way it was at the perfect angle to flood the room with bright sunlight. An ancient crank window on the far side of the room was the only source of light. And a modern-looking steel door stood on his other side, no doubt locked and bolted shut.

For a few moments all he could do was simply look around and breathe. He couldn’t recall all of his dreams from earlier but some phantom images seemed to linger in his head.

Everything had felt so dark. Green light shining through his eyes. For some reason he’d been so angry and sad. There was the gut-wrenching feeling when a person in front of him disappeared. He leaned forwards and there was nothing there to catch him. Then the solid ground disappeared from under his feet entirely. He was sent crashing down somewhere awful. He remembered hitting water hard, and harsh chemicals burning his nose. Someone gripped at him for dear life as they both went under…

But at least those horrible dreams were over and he was wide awake now.

He tried moving his arm and was happy to find that nothing really hurt. There was a slight sting in his arm from misuse but nothing more. Gingerly, he pulled himself to sit upright in his bed and began to look over himself.

He was wearing loose pajamas several sizes too big while his arms and legs were snuggly wrapped in medical bandages. And after reaching to touch his face he found out there was gauze wrapped around his face and head as well. He also realized that he wasn’t completely free of pain, there was a buzz on his face and arms. He was being numbed by something.

How he knew that exactly, he wasn’t sure, but he was certain that in a few hours or so if he wasn’t given anything he’d start feeling more discomfort and pain.

Trying not to think on that too long, he looked around again. Maybe this was some sort of puzzle. Or maybe there was a secret hiding in this boring room that could give him a clue where he was. Why he was even here.

He couldn’t find any secret messages or clues. However when he looked at the bed by the window he realized that it wasn’t simply unmade like he’d first assumed. There was a person resting in the bed. Their bandaged face had blended in with the bedsheets, but a few tufts of dark brown hair resting on top of the pillows gave them away.

Carefully he untucked himself from his bed, swung his legs over and set them on the ground one by one. Then, hissing lightly as his legs had that same numbed buzz as his face, he tried to walk over to the other bed to see this stranger he was sharing a room with.

It took some effort. He found as soon as he tried to take a first step he couldn’t hold his own weight and had to resort to leaning against the tiled walls to maneuver himself. Even then each step felt shaky.

Eventually, he got to the other bedside. And he realized he didn’t even know what he wanted to say. How do you even approach a complete stranger you’re sharing a room with? Especially when they’re still asleep?

He wasn’t given more time to figure that out as the stranger shifted in their sleep and their eyes opened. They looked confused.

He backed away, somewhat nervously as they slowly rose up, still looking at him. Before finally they asked uncertainly. “Who are you?”

He went to answer them but quickly fell silent when they realized they actually didn’t know. He felt like he should. Most people needed to introduce themselves after all. And yet no matter how hard he tried he couldn’t think of anything to say about himself.

He didn’t even know his name.

“I… I don’t know.” He replied, shakily. “Who are you?”

The stranger looked over themselves. But try as they might they couldn’t give an answer either. They patted over their clothes as if looking for some clue but there was nothing.

“I’m not sure.” They answered. Their breathing began to pick up and they looked around the room wildly.

He waved a hand in front of the stranger and brought their focus back on them, trying to calm them down. “Hey, it’s ok. I’m just a confused as you are.”

“But this isn’t ok!” They said, voice still pinched with worry. “This doesn’t make any sense! I- We need to get out of here. Something’s wrong!”

They struggled to push themselves out of the bed. And knowing he was in no condition to stop him he just watched instead.

He kept expecting them to stumble onto weak legs, possibly even fall to the floor completely. But to his surprise the stranger was able to hold themselves up. Their legs trembled a few times, but each time their body tipped they were able to right themselves. He almost envied the stranger. But there was no way they could keep this up forever. He could already see them growing weaker as they fought to keep walking.

But the Stranger was still able to make it across the room to the metal door. They tugged at the handle and found it locked. Just like he suspected. They slammed their fist down on the door, pounding it roughly. When nobody responded he pounded harsher and began to shout for someone to let them out.

He tried speaking again. “Please, I know you’re worried. But we shouldn’t act rashly. We don’t even know where we are.”

The stranger turned and glared at them. “How can you be so calm about this!?”

“I don’t know. I just am.” He answered honestly. “Perhaps the pain killers I’m on have numbed my mind as well. But for now I feel like everything is going to be ok.”

He expected the stranger to retaliate. Keep fighting. But instead they finally paused. “What makes you say that?”

“To begin with we woke up already taken care of. Whatever wounds we had have been treated and dressed.”

The stranger looked down at their wrapped arms as if to clarify this. But their face still rested in what he assume to be a frown. “But we’re still locked in this strange room! Everything looks old but this door is brand new.” They said, hitting the door again as if to clarify their point. “And we’re locked in!”

“That is true. And for the life of me I can’t understand why they would do this. I’m not sure what’s going on. But you know what?”

“What?” The stranger asked, looking back at him with weary expression.

“At least we’re not alone…”

The stranger didn’t say anything in reply.

Nervously they continued. “When… When I first woke up, everything seemed so strange to me. I thought this was some sort of puzzle I’d have to solve all on my own. But then I realized you were here. And maybe we can help each other?”

The stranger didn’t reply immediately. But after a few moments, they slowly stepped away from the door. And looked at him expectantly.

His mind felt far too fast and the rest of him struggled to catch up. Until he finally closed his eyes and tried again. “Ok, do you mind if we start over? I, uh, I’d like to try that again.”

In return the stranger walked back across the room to their bed. He couldn’t help but noticed now as they tried to walk they were hobbling a little, leaning further to the right. They must have hurt their left leg from getting up too quickly and pushing themselves.

“Ok, that’s fair.” As they got closer they extended their hand out. Suddenly they began speaking very formerly. “Hello, I’d like to introduce myself fully but my memory is failing me at the moment.”

He extended his hand and gave the stranger’s a quick shake, trying to impersonate their style of speaking. “Hello to you too. I know how you feel. I’m in a similar situation myself. Perhaps we can figure out this problem together as friends?”

He didn’t know what prompted him to say ‘friends’. ‘Acquaintances’ or even ‘allies’ would have probably been more fitting since they didn’t even know one another.

But the stranger didn’t seem to mind. Instead for the first time since meeting him, they finally gave him a small smile. “I think that’s a good idea.”

Suddenly, despite not knowing who he was or what he was meant to be, he felt like he’d accomplished something great.

 

And even when a few minutes later an army of doctors and nurses and security guards rushed into the room exclaiming that he and the stranger were thought to be “brain dead”, and a very angry butler came in to drag his new friend away, he still felt he’d accomplished something great.

No matter what happened next, whatever trials came as he tried to figure out who he was and what had happened to him, he knew he had a friend.

 

In the end that was all he’d ever wanted. Before the pain, the chaos, the torture, the power struggle, before his obsessions and wickedness.

Before any of that, all Jeremiah Valeska had wanted was someone who truly understood him. Someone who he could call his friend…

 


End file.
